Monday, 25 January 2016

Today I have a jazzy little card for you using a fantastic silhouette of a sax player

as well as some of the brilliantly versatile background stamps.

As is usual for me I started colouring some white card with Brusho paints. I just love the zesty lime alongside the hot orange.

I used bleach - yep, bleach - with the plasma squiggle from the Universal set.

Visible Image stamps are made with top quality photopolymer and I haven't yet had any problem using bleach on them. I do still err on the side of caution and wipe my stamps straight away with a baby wipe and then after the crafting session I wash them in warm water before air drying and storing back in their pockets.

Anyway, squiggles done, I then used a blended ink pad in shades of green with the spotty plasma circle from the Universal set directly over the top.

Using black embossing powder I stamped the jazz player and the sentiment onto pieces of card that would contrast well when added to the background card.

Monday, 11 January 2016

As you may have noticed there have been some additions to the Visible Image design team following a DT Call late last year. Poor Helen and Mark had a really tough time selecting the successful candidates, the submissions were phenomenal.

2016 will see even more fabulous new stamps and stuff (yes, 'stuff', but I am not allowed to expand on that just yet) coming from Visible Image. You are going to have to watch this space. Top tip: head over to the Facebook group and you will hear all the latest news as it happens.

Right, on to my first project for 2016. I am known for my hoarding of useful bits and pieces and I have used an empty chocolate box tray for my piece today.

Naturally, I forgot to take a 'before' shot.

I started by covering the whole thing with a layer of tissue paper just t block out the dark printing on the original box. I used a 50:50 mix of water and PVA glue.

Next I coloured some more tissue paper with Brusho paints in shades of blue, teal and lime. When all the pieces were dry I smothered them with more of the glue/water mix and pasted them onto the box. I deliberately made wrinkles and folds to add interest.

I waited for this to dry completely and then used a PVA glue with a mica content as a top coat. I have had this glue for years, no really, years and I am not sure where I got it from. I suppose you could use mica powder or a mica mister to add the sheen. Experiment! That is what it is all about.

Just to add even more shine, I applied some silver gilding ax very carefully to the raised folds and wrinkles around the frame.

Using black embossing powder I then stamped the INKognito butterfly onto a piece of heat resistant acetate the was cut to fir exactly into the frame. I also stamped the sentiment in black and a normal butterfly with a teal sparkle embossing powder onto more pieces of acetate.

The butterfly was cut out and stuck over the black one using a clear silicone gel. The sentiment was stuck along the bottom of the frame attached to the sides.

This was a long project as there was a lot of drying time but sometimes it is nice to do something that isn't instant.